MANDALA I, HYMN 68.

ASHTAKA I, ADHYAYA 5, VARGA 12.

1. Cooking (the oblations?) the quick one has approached the sky. He has revealed the nights and what stands and moves --

2. When he the god, alone of all these gods encompassed (the others) by his greatness.

3. When thou, O god, hadst been born living from the dry (wood), then all (gods and men?) were pleased with thy wisdom.

4. They all obtained the name of divinity, of immortality , serving the Rita in due way.

5. The instigations of Rita, the thought of Rita : they all performed the works of [?] the full-lived one .

6. Bestow wealth, thou who art the knowing one, on him who worships thee or who does service to thee .

7. He who sits down as the Hotri among the offspring of Manu: he verily is the master of all these riches.

8. They longed together for the seed in their bodies , and the wise ones were concordant among each other in their minds.

9. They took pleasure in his will, as sons (take pleasure) in their father's (will), the quick ones who have listened to his command.

10. He who is rich in food has opened the gates of wealth . The householder (Agni) has adorned the sky with stars.

NOTES.

The same Rishi and metre.

Verse 1.

Note [1:68:1:1]1. Boehtlingk-Roth are wrong in deriving srinan (which should more correctly be written srinan, comp. my Prolegomena, 477) from the root sri. They supply an object like sokih and translate: 'Licht verbreitend hebt er sich zum Himmel.'

Note [1:68:1:2]2. Lanman, 422.

Verse 2.

Note [1:68:2:1]1. Bollensen conjectures deva'nam devah (instead of devah deva'nam) which seems to be right (comp. below, 69, 2), though this conjecture is not absolutely necessary (see my Prolegomena, 97):

Verse 4.

Note [1:68:4:1]1. Amritam belongs to na'ma; comp. V, 57, 5. amritam na'ma bhegire; X, 123, 4. vidat gandharvah amritani na'ma.

Verse 5.

Note [1:68:5:1]1. With ritasya dhitih comp. I, 71, 3; IV, 23, 8; IX, 76, 4; 97, 34; 111, 2.--Prof. Max Muller thinks that rita should be taken as a name of Agni: 'for the righteous (Agni) are the prayers, for the righteous the devotion.'

Note [1:68:5:2]2. Is visva'yuh an adverb meaning 'eternally'? As visva'yu is an epithet of Agni frequently used in the Rig-veda and especially in the Parasara hymns (see 67, 6. 10; 68, 5; 73, 4), one feels tempted to read visva'yoh (comp. IV, 42, 1. rashtram kshatriyasya visva'yoh).

Verse 6.

Note [1:68:6:1]1. Comp. III, 59, 2. yah te aditya sikshati vratena.

Verse 8.